Help needed with Superb estate tailgate

[ashfan]

After fitting a reverse camera to my Superb estate I`m having more than a spot of bother trying to get the cover back on to the tailgate. Me and a mate have just been trying for over an hour and before things got damaged because I was losing my rag I decided to give up. I was going to ask my daughter to help out and it`s a good job I didn`t because the air was blue.

 

So, if anybody has done this before do you have any useful tips for putting it back on. I can see me driving round with it not fitted until the car is scrapped.

[superbdreams]

It was a right fiddle to get back on, more so on your own but if memory serves it was a case of ensuring the clips were lined up and slapping quite hard on top of them.

I found I was not slapping hard enough but with the tailgate up and no one to hold it-its tricky.

[ashfan]

I think you're right but when I managed to get some in the others weren't lined up and were just bending. I've since found out, after speaking to a mechanic friend that I would be better removing the trim around the glass first, then fitting the tailgate trim and then putting the glass trim back. This seemed to help up to a point but it just felt like there was something solid stopping me from engaging the clips close to the wiper motor.

I'll have another go today

[wokwon]

Yeah it was a major pain to get all the clips engaged.  I did it by myself, I'm sure with two people it would be much easier.

[ashfan]

Yeah it was a major pain to get all the clips engaged.  I did it by myself, I'm sure with two people it would be much easier.

 Absolutely right. I have managed it eventually and for what its worth these are my tips for getting it done. Its how I managed it anyway.

 

It did help to remove the trim surrounding the glass. I found that attaching the main trim to that first meant that I was fighting to attach the clips on the main trim.

 

I read somewhere that greasing the clips helped but I think it just helped them to pop out again when they were attached so I removed the grease..

 

Before you start make sure all the clips are in place on the trim tight and all pointing the right way. It took a lot of force to release them when removing the trim so a lot of them got bent or out of shape. If necessary get some new ones.

 

I was lucky in that I have a garage so I could open the tailgate against the open garage door (with plenty of padding of course) which gave me something to push against when I was trying to force the clips home, they are very tight.

 

I started at the wiper motor side and worked my way round, trying to do both sides  before the lock edge. It does help if you have a helper to hold it up whilst trying to line up the clips. I had two of those props that plasterers use to hold up plasterboard to a ceiling while its being nailed, they were a godsend and held the trim up nicely while I fiddled with the clips.

 

When it was all fixed in place I then had to release the two corners where I first started so that I could then attach the trim that surrounds the glass. That then went on easily but I couldn`t get the two plastic push in clips that hold the very tip of the glass surround trim but it all seems to be in nice and tight anyway.

 

Thats how I managed it anyway but I`m sure others have their own preferred method.